Building on Faith: Modesto promoters put hope in new generation's music

By Sue Nowicki
snowicki@modbee.com

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

Generation New Hope, a Modesto organization that puts on concerts by relatively unknown or local Christian rock bands, decided to go all out this month.

The organization is sponsoring The Promise Remains Tour with award-winning heavy hitters Building 429 and Todd Agnew, along with a new group, Kimber Rising, a female trio.

The three will be in concert Thursday at Christian Worship Center in Manteca.

Building on Faith: Christian groups keep the 'Word' in forefront

"We want to reach out to kids who might not ever step foot in a church," said Diane Gendle, founder and promoter of Generation New Hope.

To do that, she said, "We do a lot of genres of music: alternative, rap, hardcore, rock and some pop. We tend to stay on the harder side."

A group of 30 teens and young adults volunteer for New Hope, holding car washes and other fund-raising events to pay for the concerts, and being on hand to talk with the kids who show up.

The results, since the first concert in 2005, have been worthwhile, Gendle said.

"We've seen salvation. We've seen lives changed. We're just so excited."

And through the years, she's found connections with band members in more well-known groups. That's how Thursday's concert happened, through networking.

"We've been friends with the boys in 429 for a long, long time, and their booking manager is a friend," she said. "And Todd Agnew is just an amazing man of God."

The contacts led not only to a concert here, but also reduced ticket prices.

"A lot of their shows are $20 and up. In this economy, and because of the kids we're trying to reach, we just didn't want to do that. So we worked with them and it's $12 in advance or $14 at the door, the lowest prices on the tour."

It was still a more expensive concert than Generation New Hope ever has sponsored.

"It's always a risk," Gendle said. "We don't have big-name sponsors or high-powered churches behind us. But God takes care of that. We hope it packs out the place so we can cover all of our guarantees."